Once Upon a Midnight
by EEstelle
Summary: Lyn Harkeran, fanfiction writer extraordinaire, is on a date with a certain God of Mischief when she gets a knock on her door. Looks like Rumpelstiltskin, a friend of hers, is missing, and now Storybrooke's on a manhunt. So this is what happens when the imp forgets his anniversary and drowns his sorrows in caffeine! Merry Christmas, (a few years ago,) Lyn! For fun and for comedy.


**A/N:**

*If you noticed the edit, just a few minor changes.*

Hello, dear readers! So happy to have you! Anyway, I wrote this a few years ago as a Christmas present for my cousin who just happens to love these characters and stories, and for some reason I just felt like posting it to kick off the holidays! Just a warning, this fic is full of cheesy humor and mostly just for laughs. It stemmed from the ridiculous notion of what Rumpelstiltskin would act like on caffeine. LOL. Well, shout out to my dearest Lyn, and Merry Christmas to all! (PS- if your name is Lyn, and you notice a few minor vocabulary changes, that's probably because no one would understand what in the heck I was talking about. We really are insane. :) )

 **Once Upon a Midnight**

It was nearly 2a.m. in Storybrooke, Maine on a bitter December night. The streets were pitch black; one could hardly see their hands in front of their faces. Along every curb and suffocating every lawn was a deep layer of snow, and unseen black ice glazed the asphalt. And there, huddled in winter icing, a little glow emerged out of the windows of a quaint little diner; Granny's Diner. One minor spat of light amidst the frost.

Naturally, Granny had gone to bed hours ago; it was full moon, and Ruby was out on a... run. In fact, two very unlikely figures sat hunched together at the bar, still sipping their beverage of choice, despite the absence of the owners.

Of course, Granny had spent a few hours trying to extricate them from the premises upon closing time. She had hinted, then prodded, then demanded, and finally threatened. Nevertheless, the men were immovable, and with one final glower at the imp and the pirate, she had given up, trotting off to bed and hoping that the place was intact next morning.

Thing is, Gold was in a mood. His magic had always been infallible; but now it completely failed him when he felt he needed it most. He had thought facing his father was a trial; but it seemed as nothing at the moment to facing Belle. Belle... Without meaning to, he sighed hopelessly. Beside him, Hook again raised his cask of rum to his lips and took a swig. The pirate couldn't go a moment without his precious liquor. He basically lived on it.

"So," Hook stated resignedly, indifferently. This word had been said numerous times over the previous hours; so many times that it seemed to have lost all meaning, said only to fill a gap; the unsaid question held no answers.

"So," echoed an accented voice. Even to himself he sounded hollow.

Finally, Killian set his drink down with a resounding thud on the counter top. "Are you going to make a choice or not, Mate?" he asked with a bit of a drunken swagger. "I don't think any more tea is going to do the trick." Rumple had been drinking out of an old chipped cup, hoping that the 'power of their love,' as he had said so many times, would produce some magical solution, but it had not. How could it, when he had gotten himself into such a predicament?

He whimpered again, "I can't believe I forgot our anniversary!" Under his breath he muttered, "At least I'm consistent- would have been a bloody shame if I'd forgotten Belle after remembering Milah..." He drifted off. What a catastrophe that had been. Milah had raged for a week. Yet, somehow, Belle's response had been worse. Had she been angry, he would have felt entirely justified. As it was, she had understood completely; she had kindly teased him, then followed by making a simple, yet lovely, hamburger supper to memorialize their favorite date. He had nearly cried.

Hook sat looking at the ceiling, apparently in the middle of an eye roll. He returned his gaze to the crestfallen man's face. "It's the best idea we've got. Lyn might forgive you... someday. In any case, it's Lyn or Belle. Nothing wrong in a little swindle, aye, Mate." He took another rather longer swig of rum.

"I suppose I must. Belle will never know; Lyn will understand, what with it being Belle. This is the best way to make it up to her."

"Glad you made up your mind, Mate. Now, to my ship." And with that the tipsy pirate and the sorrowful imp made their way out the door to the flying Jolly Roger, not bothering to close up, and off to the house of one Lyn Harkeran, in none other than Provo, Utah, USA.

 **XXX**

In Utah, it was midnight; the snow was actually falling, creating a soft blanket to cover a valley surrounded by frozen cliffs. There, in a comfortable apartment, lived the Harkerans; Lyn and her mother and older brother. Now, many go to bed long before midnight, but not Lyn. No, she preferred writing and movies and visits from her muses to sleep; that is, until five or six in the morning, on a regular basis. Tonight, it was the latter of these that kept her preoccupied. She was on a date.

For years, Lyn had been working on winning over the Asgardian; not the blonde-haired hero, Thor, (though he did visit on occasion,) but rather his brother, the mischievous Loki. She had long loved him, with his long dark hair and irresistible smile, as well as his quiet, clever personality. It had taken her years to convince him to trust her, and even longer for them to actually become friends, but over time she had finally prevailed. Now, Loki and Lyn sat side by side on her cozy living room sofa, while outside snow fluttered silently past the window.

"Lyn," Loki said suddenly, turning toward her. Lyn thought reminiscently about how grateful she was that he had stopped calling her "Midgardian," though she hadn't persuaded him that the planet he was referring to was called Earth.

She turned toward him expectantly.

"I was wondering. Can we watch the Pan movie again?" Lyn stared at him incredulously, then laughed, rolling her eyes at the same time.

"I've told you, I can't stand to see that movie any more. I almost wish I'd never shown it to any of you!" It had been about a month ago that Killian Jones, otherwise known as Captain Hook, had appeared suddenly in the room and had demanded for the millionth time that they watch Peter Pan. Though she had initially refused, Loki, interested to learn of a moving picture that had a character modeled after the Captain, wheedled until she had conceded. Since that time, she had been again forced to endure the darned picture about a million times more.

Loki put on his puppy dog eyes. "Please? To wish me a... Oh, yes... Merry Christmas?"

Lyn rolled her eyes heavenward once more. "No," she enunciated. "Well, maybe..." she said begrudgingly, guiltily. She never could seem to tell him no if she allowed herself to look him in the eyes. "It's in my room- I'll go get it." She stood, grumbling something about how ridiculous and crummy it was for her to be forced into this again and again.

In her room, she dug for a few minutes under her mattress, where she had hidden the overused film in hopes that she could avoid the very thing she was conceding to for the _millionth time_. She had to throw aside a number of things as she went; a purple t-shirt, a few bags hiding Christmas presents, a number of pens and stories edited in red pen. Spotting her Mountain Dew as she reemerged, she went to grab it for a sip... empty. "Ah, cheese nips! The stinkin' thing is dry!" she swore. And then she remembered; "the twelve pack of Dew in the kitchen!" she announced to herself. How nice it was for Blake, a friend, to have brought it over as a present that afternoon! (Even if he might be jealous if he knew with what company she would be sharing it.) She left, movie in hand, closing the door behind her.

 **XXX**

The pirate and imp stood at one of the side windows of a comfortable apartment, peeking in. It was the Harkeran home. They had been checking the various frost covered windows for a few minutes; Hook casually and Rumpelstiltskin nervously, though both slightly shivered. Rumpel kept fretfully saying how good Lyn had always been to him, and how, even after all he'd done in the past, thievery towards a friend had never been part of it; and besides, he had come so far on Belle's insistence. Just as he was about to come out with yet another complaint, Lyn entered her bedroom, where they had been looking. Killian brought his hook up to his mouth in a "shushing" gesture, and placed his ear to the wall next to the glass. Gold watched carefully, his eyes just above the sill, the cold temporarily forgotten. Killian chuckled softly as he heard Lyn use a favorite of hers, "stinkin'." As Lyn left once more, the Captain stepped back.

"Hear anything... useful?" Gold inquired. Jones replied, "Just something about the 'dew' in the kitchen, whatever that means. I assume it's that yellow beverage she totes about. Apparently, it was empty. But at least we saw the movie in her hand. She'll be distracted for a while. I admit, I am tempted to stay and enjoy the legend." The man chuckled slightly.

"We don't have time," Gold said, but it sounded like a pleading request as he returned to an uncharacteristic quivery shiver. "Aye," Hook admitted, which Rumpel was grateful for. And with that the pirate inserted his Hook in the side of the window and slowly and silently pulled the glass open. With a flickering of a mischievous smile, the Captain gracefully and silently hopped into the room, Rumpel taking a breath and then climbing in behind him.

There was a faint fish smell wafting in from the kitchen where Lyn had evidently made her famous fish sandwiches (her date had _in_ evitably grown to love them.) A large and overflowing bookcase stood on one wall; beautiful novels, just waiting to be read. Rumpelstiltskin forgot for a moment his fear and could think only of his beloved Belle, and that first uniting fall in the library of his castle.

"How can I choose but one?" The imp couldn't help but squeak out a high pitched giggle, his guilt forgotten. "Dearie may need a few. Never seen these novels in Storybrooke. Such valuable treasures." He was sounding more and more like himself. Hook just sighed and started examining the bottommost shelf.

"Mate, you might want to quiet down and get busy, if you want to get out of here undetected." Under his breath he couldn't help but add, "the lost boys were less trouble than that one, since his marriage." He said it with annoyance, but inwardly, he was noticeably amused. He went back to his searching.

By now, Rumpel was picking up random copies to read the overviews, methodically traveling along the top shelf. He giggled at a few, but always placed them back. Which would be magical enough to make it up to Belle? And then he saw it, halfway down the wall, to the left. Sliding it from it's spot, he saw the title, which he skipped over to read the script right beneath it; A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It was perfect, and he hadn't even opened the cover or checked the back. Somehow he knew that that was a story meant for them; it was their story. Belle would love it.

"I found it," he said simply to his companion. Hook looked up, then stood, nodding slightly. "Now, for a drink," the imp cackled again madly and somewhat drunkenly. And then he stopped in his tracks as Peter Pan buzzed in the background, his thoughts whirring in his head. "And not rum," he said softly as Hook's bottle protruded out of his leather jacket. "Lyn's magic elixir."

For some reason, a crazy idea had just occurred to him; he wasn't sure why. He had been thinking of Lyn towards the back of his brain as he perused her personal library, and of her quirky exclamation upon discovering the emptiness of her beverage. And then he thought of her 'gentlemen', her muses, ever visiting. _She always has her Dew. And that's why they love her so much, and are always around. It must be a magical substance even I have not discovered. And so, if I drink her potion, Belle won't be able to resist me._ He thought to himself. It didn't matter at the moment that people here did not possess magic, or that Belle loved him anyway. So desperate was he to make it up to Belle that he was falling to old habits of manipulation, and that monster inside of him had to have it. The potion. The _Mountain Dew_. He was feeling wonderfully back to his old self.

Killian was now looking at Rumpelstiltskin's maniacal expression with a bit of concern. "Mate, I think you've had a little too much tea tonight. Let's go, before anything happens." As he stated this, he wondered how a non-caffeinated drink could have such an affect on such a powerful wizard. He turned to the window, took a step, then looked behind himself. Rumpel had not budged; not even his face had flinched. "I said, I need the elixir. The Dew, Dearie." As he spoke, the imp turned to the pirate, his face morphing into his famous grin. Now it was Hook's turn to stare blankly. Without another word, the leather clad Dark One pivoted and stalked out of the room.

Once both men emerged into the hallway, they were no longer talking. Tiptoeing, they followed their noses to the fish filled kitchen and the Mountain Dew, this time the roles of leader and skulking shadow reversed. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem; the kitchen was clearly visible from the living room, and if Lyn or Loki decided to but turn around, they would easily be spotted.

When they reached the end of the hallway but seconds later, Rumpel carefully peeked around the corner. Peter Pan was in full progress by now, and the sound was blaring. _Good,_ he thought. Just what he'd been hoping. Both men quietly crept to the kitchen, and started a short search. In the cupboard, they found the twelve pack, now consisting of only ten cans, the other two sitting beside Lyn and Loki on a small side table. Rumpel barely stifled another of his characteristic giggles. Then he silently wiggled a can out of the plastic and into a pocket. On a whim, he grabbed another. And then he just decided to take the whole of them. The cans quietly clinked as he picked them up. He paused, but the noise of the movie was sufficient to hide such a small sound. Turning on their heels, they crept back to the bedroom and out the window, pulling it shut behind them.

 **XXX**

In Storybrooke, Belle Gold awoke suddenly in the night. Turning towards her husband's side of the bed, she realized with some alarm that he was missing; no quiet breathing or black shadow to indicate the comforting presence of her best friend. Her brow creased in concern. Sitting up, she slid on her fuzzy purple slippers, pulled her fuzzy purple robe over her fleece pajamas, (she had readily adopted them upon her release from Regina,) and padded into the couple's living room. Rumpel was not there on their loveseat, nor on their leather rocking chair. She crept to the kitchen, but it was silent and dark. The bathroom and laundry room were vacant. Upon examination, she discovered, as feared, that Mr. Gold was nowhere in the house. Taking a deep breathe, she went and hurriedly dressed, then headed off to the Pawn Shop. Maybe a sudden idea had come to him, and he hadn't wanted to wake her.

The Shop was silent and empty. So was Granny's Diner. She drove a few times around the small town, but everywhere was still in the frozen world so late at night. She could not think where he could be. Worry started to flood her. In one last desperate attempt, she went home, hoping that he had returned during her searching; the house was empty as anything. She could think of nothing else to do. And then, "Emma," her mind whispered. Emma was the sheriff. If Rumpel was missing, Emma, if anyone, would be the person to find him.

 **XXX**

It was nearly 3a.m. when Emma Swan was jolted out of her dreams by a loud pounding on the door of her apartment. Not quite sure if she had been imagining it, and still groggy, the woman buried her face once more in her pillow, before she heard it again. Someone was definitely knocking, and Emma hoped for the sake of whoever it was that this was extremely important. Mumbling to herself, Emma climbed out of bed, lazily wiping the sleep out of her eyes, then strolled barefooted to answer the door, grabbing her gun and secreting it in her pajama pocket as she went. Peeking through the hole, she could see naught but blackness, so she decided there was nothing to do but open the door, cautiously. As her visitor continued to pound, the blonde woman pulled back the bolt and slowly cracked the door. She relaxed slightly as she identified the person on her porch; Belle.

As Emma invited her friend in, she noticed a few things that made her worry a bit. The usually polished lady was mismatched and disheveled, her hair obviously bed-worn. Bags hung beneath her beautiful eyes and her feet were snuggled in her purple slippers.

"Belle, what's wrong?" Emma's voice sounded groggy, but she was now fully awake. Belle immediately broke down in over-exhausted sobs.

"Rumpel is missing. I don't think he came home at all, and I've searched all over town." The composed blonde sat her down and began making tea. All she said was, "Tell me about it."

Belle told her everything she could think of; all the places she had looked, her suspected reasons for his disappearance.

"All I can think of is how upset he was that he forgot our anniversary," she cried as Emma handed her a tea cup, which only increased the sobbing. "But why would he leave? Doesn't he love me?"

Emma had never seen Belle like this. She was downcast and absolutely pathetic. However, she would never say that to a friend. Instead, she said, "You know he loves you. Don't worry. We'll find him. And I've got an idea."

Five minutes later, the two women sat side-by-side in Emma's small white car, both dressed in random outfits from Emma's closet. They were heading for the Pawn Shop. Belle was silent and blank eyed; she didn't ask any questions. Emma felt an explanation unnecessary at this point, so she simply drove. Soon they arrived.

Inside the shop, the sheriff rifled through the oddities that filled the place, looking form something in particular. A look of recognition began to dawn on Belle's face. Without prompting, she, too, began to look around. Only a minute later, Mrs. Gold came up with what they were looking for; an odd magic box which Emma told her was called an Iphone. Taking the box, the later of the two women touched the screen a few times, and dialed some unknown number. A single ring echoed around the room, and then, they were being pulled through some sort of portal, into the device. A moment later, they emerged on a snowbank, next to some apartments. Emma easily slid the cell into her leather jacket's pocket; Belle seemed a bit frazzled as she followed her friend to the nearest door. Emma knocked, knowing that at least one of the occupants would be awake, despite the lateness of the hour. A small commotion could be heard inside, and then the lock clicked and a friendly brown face could be seen peeking into the darkness, slightly illuminated by the porch light.

"Emma! Belle!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here, especially this late? Decided to finally come and see me?" She was a little shocked to see them, but jokingly and jovially let them in.

"Welcome, Midgardians," a voice said from the couch without bothering to turn around. Lyn chided him, "Emma and Belle, not 'Midgardians.'" Emma couldn't stop herself from giving a small smirk.

"Forgive me..." he said slightly sarcastically. "Emma and Belle," he said as he rose from the couch. Loki glanced at the two new arrivals and just barely inclined his head in greeting, his hands in his pockets. Emma was obviously about to say something snarky, but she was cut off.

"This is Loki, god of mischief," Lyn introduced them. Loki was looking somewhat disengaged and annoyed already. He evidently wanted to continue watching the paused movie on the screen. Emma recognized it as Peter Pan, though after past adventures she didn't know how she felt about the unrealistic picture. Belle, on the other hand, was fascinated and momentarily distracted by the strange look on the face of a drawing plastered on a box.

As Lyn sat them down, she noticed the expressions they were wearing, and though the cause was unknown to her, became worried as so many others had that night. Emma, being for the most part unemotional on the outward appearance, had her "Bail Bonds Woman" face on. Belle's eyes were glossy; she had recently been crying.

"What's wrong?" Lyn inquired, peering from one woman to the other. Emma didn't waste words; "Gold's missing. He doesn't happen to be here with you?"

Lyn sucked in a short breath. "No. I haven't seen him, anyway. I've just been, um, visiting Loker..." she trailed off as she saw the god's face. "iii. Loki," she corrected. The dark haired man just rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"Well, then, I guess we have to be going," Emma said as she rose. To herself, she added, "though I'm not sure where else to look..."

"Wait," Lyn said, rising herself. "At least have a drink before you go. She was feeling bad for not being of any use, so she was also feeling generous. She strolled to the cupboard, and opened the door.

The Mountain Dew was gone! Lyn nearly burst out crying. What could have happened to her brand new case of beverages?! Emma hurried over at the outcry, Belle behind her. Loki took a step, but then Lyn looked at him, then at the empty cans on the side table, mouthing silently, and he knew. The two women, however, were as confused as ever.

"What?" Emma asked plainly. "What's wrong?" Lyn tried to speak, failed, wet her lips, and tried again.

"I got some Mountain Dew from a friend for an early Christmas present. Now it's gone!"

Emma looked at her incredulously. "That's it? Missing soda?"

"Not just missing soda!" the sad girl retorted. "Missing Deeeeeeew!"

Now Emma just looked confused. Why would anyone steal soda pop?

"Are you sure they were in here?" she inquired gently. Loki answered for her with a nod. "I saw," was his only response.

"Your family didn't take it?" she asked, peering into a few other cupboards. Lyn shook her head, "Mom's sleeping and Jeremiah's at ball tonight."

"Well, let's check the house anyway." It was all Emma could think of. While Lyn and Loki checked the rest of the kitchen, Belle looked in the living room. Emma decided to check Lyn's bedroom. When she opened the door, she was unsurprised by a slight clutter of pens and paper. Lyn loved her writing, and could hardly ever be seen without a pen in hand and an epiphany on her mind. Walking around, she lifted a few things off the bed and floor to see if she could find the cans. She peered under the bed, and felt a wet spot on the floor beneath her knee. Sitting up, she noticed a few other, somewhat cold, wet spots, as if snow had melted on the carpet. They were roughly the shape of shoe prints, and led, on further examination, from the window, to a larger blot of water by the book case, and out the bedroom door, (though there they began to fade.) Sheriff Swan stood up where once just Emma had been. She strode determinedly to the door, and went to find the others.

Once all four of them were in the room, Swan showed them the spots and let them speculate what had occurred and why, not to mention when. Lyn noted the last time she had been in her room, and thought she would have heard if anyone had been in her house, especially if they had left the room as the prints seemed to indicate. It wasn't hard to deduce that whoever it was had come through the window, but it was hard to tell if it was one or two people. There seemed to be quite a bit of slush for but one. They could only suspect whether the culprit or culprits, as it may be, had also exited through the window, or out the door or some other window in another room, but the snow left no tracks past leaving the room. And why would an intruder have taken soda pop? At the moment, Gold's absence had slipped their minds.

As they continued to deliberate, Lyn stepped to her beloved bookcase as a good sized puddle seemed to have accumulated before it. Upon inspection, she discovered that one was missing; a whole in the solid wall. It took her a minute to identify the volume, but then she recalled it, and the subtitle. The pieces began to click, and deep in her bones, she knew who had been in her house. "A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast," she whispered under her breath. It was no coincidence that Rumpelstiltskin was missing. He had been here. But she didn't know why, or why he would take her Mountain Dew, or her precious books.

 **XXX**

Fifteen minutes previously, back in Storybrooke, Gold and Jones were at the pirate's home, Gold giggling frequently as he ceremoniously poured the beverage into his chipped cup. Only a half can could fit in the cup, so he drank one half, poured the rest in, and drank it. Feeling no effects after the first, he had another can, and then another, until he had drained eight of the ten cans. Killian had refused any of it; he would not believe it was a potion that could help him with Emma, though Gold had insisted. Besides, if he was going to win Emma, he wasn't willing to force her into it. He wanted her to choose him for herself. Rumpel had taken this refusal to mean, "more for me!" He was acting as insane as ever, and with every can, he became even more frightening. His usual, "Hello, Dearie," sounded more like "heloderi." His pupils had become slightly dilated, and his laugh was becoming ever more high pitched. Hook looked up at the clock, and seeing the time, his desire for sleep increased even further. Stretching, he stood.

"I think it's time you got home, Mate. Belle's probably worried," he said in an attempt to push the man out the door. "It's quite late," he added.

"Ohnodearie," Gold jabbered. "I'mnottiredatall. Thisstufftruelyismagical! Nowforanotherdrink!" The imp was extremely wired and talking far too fast for Hook's exhausted ears. He barely had time to wrench the ninth Mountain Dew from Gold's grasp after finally figuring out what he had said.

"Enough of that, Mate," the pirate grunted as he wrestled the can away and put the remaining cans in the very back of the refrigerator. With a considerable amount of energy, he was able to maneuver the Dark One out the door and into the silent night. He could only hope Rumpel would compose himself and go home to his wife.

 **XXX**

Back at Lyn's house, the whole matter had been explained as much as was possible and the group was deciding what to do about it. It had seemed rather obvious when it came right down to it- Rumpelstiltskin had undoubtedly taken the book to give to Belle for their anniversary, had evidently thought Lyn's collection his best option, though the soda was still a mystery. They'd eventually concluded that there must have been another set of prints beside the first, but who they belonged to was still a mystery. Strangely, it was Loki, rather quiet until this point, that finally suggested they do something about it.

"If you can't find this Mr. Gold, why not seek the man he was last with, or any who might have seen the pair of them? It seems half your town is awake anyhow."

It seemed completely natural now that it had been said, and all readily agreed when they'd finished staring at him, apparently awestruck. Secretly, Loki was wondering how such silly creatures had learned to survive. If he had learned anything about Rumpelstiltskin, he knew that the imp was more likely to be a danger to his town when missing than to himself. Yet, Lyn was worried, so he, Loki, couldn't do anything but tag along.

As the tricked-out Iphone wasn't equipped to transport more than two people at once, it was Loki's magic that transported Lyn and himself to Storybrooke, while Belle and Emma traveled back together as they had come. Both pairs arrived in the middle of town at the same time, Belle emerging with a sick look on her face, but otherwise unharmed and unhindered, so the foursome split up to comb the town.

Emma would have insisted Belle come with her in her condition, but the woman would hear nothing of it, so Emma Swan set out alone. Most of the homes were dark, so Emma didn't bother, until she arrived at the door of her very own Killian Jones. For some reason, she just had to stop, no matter the time. Climbing the steps she knocked on the door once, twice, and still hearing nothing, rapped on the window. "Killian!" she called out impulsively, well aware that he wouldn't be thrilled to be dragged awake in this fashion.

"What's wrong, love?" Killian slammed the door open, glancing swiftly around into the darkness before finally settling his wide-eyed gaze on Emma, his disheveled appearance unable to go unnoticed. Emma giggled slightly. "Hey, Killian."

"What the bloody..." he trailed off as Emma's smile grew. "Thanks for lightening the mood," she joked, before her smile faded. "But really, have you seen Gold?"

Two minutes later, Emma and Hook were jogging down the road. Emma hadn't exactly had time to explain what had happened specifically, but then, the pirate hadn't said much either. All they knew was that Gold was missing, Hook had recently been with him, and they both just really, really wanted to go home to bed.

Near the end of the road, the two of them almost slammed straight into Lyn as she came out from a side street. With a small gasp, Lyn stepped back just in time before they all abruptly halted. Emma and Hook spoke simultaneously.

"Hook knows where Gold is."

"What are you doing here, love?"

The pair stared at eachother, before speaking in sync again.

"No, I _knew_ where Gold was."

"Lyn's with us."

Lyn just laughed, then; "What?"

After that, it all came out, Hook and Emma talking over each other and Lyn mediating until most of the events of the night had been explained. It took a bit of prodding, but the pirate eventually admitted to sneaking into the Harkeran residence, and Lyn couldn't help but forgive him. As they talked, they'd walked first to the Gold residence, then to the pawn shop, but the question remained- where had the caffeinated Rumpelstiltskin gone?

Half an hour following Killian's entrance into the "case," everyone had been rounded up, including a few extras- Emma, Hook, Lyn, Loki, and Belle, joined by the Charmings and Regina, stood in a mass in front of the library. With a bit of confusion, the story spread, and as they began to understand, ideas flew. Yet, soon enough, the night air was filled with but silence. For a few minutes, no one spoke, each person caught in their own thoughts. No one really knew what to do, or if they should do anything at all. And for the second time that night, the most unlikely to speak, spoke.

"There is but one other place the imp might be," said a smooth, calming voice as Loki stepped into the light gleaming from the lamp post around which they gathered. All eyes were on him, but he said nothing more, only glancing from one face to another. "Lyn," he turned to her, "you know where we must go."

Lyn was confused, but then his meaning hit her, and she beamed at him. She walked to his side, and a voice, presumably David's, called out, "Where are we going?"

Loki addressed the question snarkily, looking rather at Lyn than the audience, "I think Lyn and I would like to finish the evening as close as possible to the way we began it." Lyn chided him, "Loki..." but smiled nevertheless. Loki looked up, "you'll know if we find him," and with that, they were gone.

 **XXX**

A few miles away from the Harkeran home was another home, and in this home lived another girl, a girl with two parents and a brother living there, who also happened to have some... well, eccentric... cousins, cousins whom she loved very much. The girl's name was Echo, and though she had less to do with other worlds and times and stories than her cousin Lyn did, that didn't mean she had no contact. And just because she wasn't in bed at that moment, that didn't mean she wouldn't like to be.

It had been very late when he had shown up, and it was later now still, but somehow Echo just couldn't make the man leave. On rare occasions, Lyn's muses had been allowed to visit her home, but she simply wasn't used to these kind of surprises. But what could she do? When Gold had appeared by her bedside, shaking her violently and rambling, she had nearly punched his face in before recognizing him. When she'd finally pieced together just enough of his mumbo jumbo to realize he was on an extreme caffeine high and just might kill himself trying to get home, she'd done the only thing she knew how to do- used a little magic given her by Loki to block the noise for her family before dunking Rumpel repeatedly in the shower. Once both of them were sufficiently drowned, and she could actually understand half of Gold's words, she'd changed pajamas and he'd used magic on his clothes before sitting down on the sofa until he could communicate properly.

Following what felt like an eternity of random word assault, the crazed imp had thankfully passed out where he sat. For the moment, Echo did nothing but sip cocoa as she peered out into a starlit, snow-speckled night. That is, until she was startled nearly out of her socks by a tap at the door.

Upon inspection through the peephole, Echo was relieved to see none other than her cousin, smiling at some figure currently obscured from her vision. Sighing, she clicked back the bolt to let them into the warm house.

"Lyn!" Echo greeted her. Then, turning, "Loki! Wow, I _really_ was not expecting to see you here... except for the fact that I've got the Dark One on my couch, I suppose." She gave an exhausted, hilarious sort of grin as the couple entered.

"By the way, thanks for the present, Loki," Echo added. "I don't know how my parents would react if they knew any of you actually existed, much less came to my house in the middle of the night."

"Yes, I suppose they would be rather confused." Loki had an unexpected friendship with Echo. But then again, even if he hadn't, Lyn wouldn't have let him say so or act as if otherwise. At this comment, however, Lyn looked questioningly at Loki. "What present?"

"Considering the amount of nonsense occurring here, I gave her a stone with disguising magic. You forget how familiar I am with difficult parents."

At this, Lyn and Echo both laughed. Lyn joked, "Wow, who's special!" Echo just pulled a face.

"Oh, um, would you like to sit down? I don't think it's a very good idea to wake him quite yet. In fact, I'm not sure he'd wake up even if we tried," Echo was saying suddenly. So all three of them sat down, Loki and Lyn on the loveseat (Echo was sure to tease them about this) and Echo on the piano bench, as Gold took up almost the entire couch.

And so it was that the entire mishap was related one more time. As can be imagined, embellishments dragged the tale into a lengthy and hilarious mess, but finally they were silent, as now the three of them stared into a frosted early morning. However, this didn't last long, for a minute later who groaned into life but the troublemaker himself.

"Hello, Dearies. Where am I?"

The others in the room turned, with various expressions of annoyance, relief, and muddled sleepiness.

"Morning, princess," Echo couldn't help herself, before Lyn began a worried rather than angry tirade.

And so, finally, the missing link came into play as Gold recounted as much as he remembered. No one will ever know where he went between his escapade at Killian's home until his arrival at Echo's, but almost all was explained; what had motivated him to take the soda, why he had chosen the book, and why he would never drink Mountain Dew again. Their adventure was related to him, and the only thing that seemed to cause him any sort of remorse was Belle.

"Belle, my poor Belle," he kept muttering.

And some time, some way, they somehow said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Standing on the porch, Echo watched as three beautifully insane people flickered and disappeared into the cold darkness.

 **XXX**

Suffice it to say, Gold was allowed to keep the book as a gift, which he rushed home to Belle after re-appearing alone in front of the clock in the center of a morning-gray town. How she responded is still a mystery, but one can assume it went well because they are somehow still together. The rest of the town learned about it much later than usual that day, but Storybrooke is still Storybrooke, taking on one battle at a time.

Loki and Lyn hadn't bothered going back to the enchanted town, preferring to let them deal with the problem's conclusion on their own. Far away in Utah, the pair had returned to the comfortable couch from which they could finish watching the classic Peter Pan.

When the movie ended, however, there was no one there to see it. As light softly entered through the window, it landed on two figures, seated and sleeping, with two hands clasped tightly together.

 **Merry Christmas!**


End file.
